The Top Ten Movies of 2018...so far...and why I'm late with them

I know, I know. You're supposed to do these lists by New Year's Eve. See, what had happened was...sigh...let's back up to the day in question. Actually, let's go to the day before.

December 30, 2018

If you didn't know, I'm a teacher. That means by the very end of December, I've been off work for a while. Like any movie blogger worth his/her weight in popcorn, I spent much of my time watching movies. Since I'm not always a good blogger, I didn't spend as much time as I wanted to writing about them. However, I was on a mission. I had two more Blind Spot reviews left to do: Spaceballs and Fist of the North Star. I just finished watching Spaceballs. Because I'm a badass, or an idiot - one of the two, I wrote my review for that while watching North Star. Since it was getting late, I set that review to publish at midnight, giving it a date of December 31.

Mrs. Dell's car needed to be repaired. She had to work on the 31st, so the job of getting it to our mechanic fell to me. We've been using him for years, so we know how he works. What that means is that when I called him to tell him I was coming, I made him promise he would get it done that day (he already knew what was wrong with it). This meant I would have to sit in the waiting room for five or six hours while he got the job done.

Not my actual mechanic.

Here was the plan:

• Take my laptop and super-duper classified flashdrive containing reviews written under similar circumstances. This was needed because my mechanic has no internet connection at his shop. He only uses his computer for silly things like printing receipts.
• Write the review for Fist of the North Star
• Write out my list of the top 10 movies of 2018
• If time permits, make out my Blind Spot List for 2019
• Save all to the super-duper classified flashdrive
• Return home to my desktop, plug in the flash and upload the review and the list to the blog
• Publish both North Star and the top 10 before the Mrs. and I were to leave for New Year's festivities.

When I got to the shop, I got right to work on my plan. Fingers danced across the keyboard like Channing Tatum to Pony. Their tap-tap-tapping mixed with the whirring of power tools and clanging of blunt instruments against metal wielded by manly men created an industrious symphony that carried me through the morning into the afternoon. The review - done. The top 10 - done. Blind Spot List - done. File > Save > Clicked. The synergy was so crazy, that last act occurred just as Mr. Mechanic slams the hood on Mrs. Dell's car, bursts into the waiting room and says, "I got you straight, man." I pack up my shit, pay the man, and bounce happily out the door.

Here's the problem:

Let's go through my packing process. I pull the super-duper classified flash drive out of the USB, I set it on the table, and say to myself, "Dell, don't forget this." I unplug the charger and put it, with the laptop, in my bag. That's when I pay the man, and bounce happily out the door.

Did I mention it was about two minutes before closing time?

Well, it's a twenty minute drive to the Dell Cave. I get home, turn on the desktop, reach into the pocket on my bag where I keep the super-duper classified flash drive. And. Feel. Nothing. It must've fell out in the car, right? I go outside and tear up the inside of the vehicle looking for it. Nada. I go through my jacket pockets. I dig deeper, but still coming up with lint (hip hop reference). Then it hits me. It's sitting on that damn table. The shop is already closed, and won't open on New Years Day. By the 2nd, it was back to work for me. So I was stuck with just making a phone call that day in hopes that he found it before it fell into the wrong hands. The fate of the blogging world was hanging in the balance. Luckily, he had it. Since I was back to being a real adult with a job, and hours that don't match up real well with his, I couldn't get it for quite some time. Finally, I was able to retrieve it and without any of the death-defying feats of Skyfall, nor the shenanigans The Spy Who Dumped Me.

This time.

Next time, the world might not be so lucky.


With that, let's actually talk movies.

2018 was a big movie watching year for me. Like you, the number of films I have access to has been ballooning over the last few years. This year marked the year that I took the most advantage of this. At this time of year, in the past, I would usually have watched around 30 of that year’s new releases. Last year, it jumped to about 50. This year, I’m already over 80. For that, I have to thank a lot of different sources. My spring and summer fling with Movie Pass, followed by my new romance with AMC’s A-List has gotten me to over 20 trips to the theater. That might sound low to some of you hardcore movie buffs out there, but it’s the first time I’ve ever gone that many times in one year. My subscriptions to Netflix, and to a lesser degree, Hulu, gave me a plethora of new movies to watch. The local pawn shops, of which I’m a frequent visitor enabled me to buy a good number of this year’s releases on the cheap, generally from one to four dollars. Finally, when I wanted to splurge, Best Buy and Walmart were there. When you factor in the numerous movies I watched from prior years, you can see that film was coming out of my ears.

And I still didn’t see everything.

I’ve got a lot of movies from this year left to watch. That’s why this, as usual, is my list of the top ten movies of the year SO FAR. By the time I’m through there’s a chance none of these makes my official top 10. More likely, some of these will make that final list and the order will be shuffled around as my opinions morph. That official list won’t be out for at least a few months. I’m aiming for the summer. Don’t hold your breath waiting on it, though. I’m still putting together my official list of the best movies of 2017. Sigh.

Let’s find out what I really liked this year.

My Top 10 Movies of 2018…

SO FAR

10. Tully

The trio of Jason Reitman, Diablo Cody, and Charlize Theron strikes again, delivering a tough film about post-partum depression. The writing and directing work in tandem to facilitate another magnificent performance by its star. It’s advertised as a comedy, but don’t go in expecting a barrel of laughs. Any chuckles you get from this will be uneasy. (Full Review)

9. Thoroughbreds

Speaking of dark comedies, this one has the type of sense of humor that “normal” people might find disturbing. It’s about two teenage girls, Amanda (Olivia Cooke) and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) who form a rather odd bond which leads them to plot the murder of one girl’s stepfather. The behavior of the characters, particularly the emotionless Amanda, reminds one of something out of a Wes Anderson film. Imagine if Anderson made a morbid comedy about murderous kids and you’d be heading in the right direction.

8. Black Panther

We all know the MCU is made up of a growing fleet of interlocking movies, endlessly setting up the next entry. Black Panther gives us that universe’s most self-contained movie in years, and it’s most culturally ambitious. That doesn’t get it here, though. What does the trick is the best world-building in any movie of any genre from 2018, some of the strongest female characters to ever appear in a superhero flick, and a villain with a tangible, relatable point, a vision, and the motivation to see it through. (Full Review)

7. Incredibles 2

Sequels to films that are over a decade old are generally a losing proposition. In this case, it was a runaway success. The themes of family (especially parenthood) and female empowerment take center stage amidst a bunch of great action sequences and perfectly timed humor to give us one of the best superhero flicks in a year where we got a number of good ones. (Full Review)

6. The Kindergarten Teacher

This film about a teacher who recognizes and attempts to nurture a child prodigy is the most uncomfortable viewing experience I had all year. Every minute that passed slathered on another layer of hatred for our main character, yet I fell deeper and deeper into her rabbit hole, trying to make sense of her actions. Then it ended. I’ve been haunted by the final shot ever since. (Full Review)

5. Mission: Impossible Fallout

The M:I franchise has slowly won me over. It wasn’t until Ghost Protocol, the fourth movie in the series that I found one that really liked. By the time Rogue Nation ended, I finally called myself a fan and was looking forward to this one. I liked those two so much that I decided Fallout was going to be the first movie in the franchise that I was going to the theater for. That was a great decision, as I got the thrill of a lifetime.

4. Sorry to Bother You

I went into this film not knowing much about it, other than it was a black movie, and it was “different.” It was definitely both of those and gave me one of the weirdest theater experiences I ever had. That experience, filled with moments when I was the only person laughing and watching others walk out in the middle of the second and third acts, let me know that this is the type of film some will love, some will absolutely hate. It presents heady jokes, lots of metaphors to wade through, and a main character that speaks directly to me. For all of those things, I fall squarely on the side of love. (Full Review)

3. Avengers: Infinity War

When I go into an MCU film, I know there’s a formula they follow pretty closely. I’ve also bashed lots of other movies for doing that. However, what the good folks at Marvel have done, at least for me, is make that formula work over and over. In this case, I went in knowing that this movie was a setup for the next Avengers movie. I wasn’t ready to be so engaged by the bad guy and was still blown away by the ending I had an idea was coming. When it happened, you could feel the wind knocked out of everyone in the theater with me. (Full Review)

2. Hereditary

The title lets you know that the problems in this movie aren’t unique to the main character. They affect all of our kin, even those not afflicted. Hereditary brings that into sharp relief, especially thanks to a mesmerizing performance by Toni Collette. This film freaked me out the night I saw it, but I downplayed its quality a bit. I did the same in my review. Over the rest of the year, I kept thinking about it and its continuously grown in stature. (Full Review)

1. BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee returns with his best movie in years. He takes a true event from the 1970s, adds a dollop of fiction to it, puts the pedal to the medal, and (almost literally) drives it right into 2018. Some have blasted the film for Lee’s trademark lack of subtlety. I’m a fan of subtlety, usually. Sometimes, however, sledgehammers and bullhorns need to be used. Lee’s film recognizes this and pounds away at those who need bludgeoning. (Full Review)

Honorable Mentions: Aquaman, Bird Box, Blindspotting, Deadpool 2, Den of Thieves, Eighth Grade, Game Night, Searching, Upgrade

Before you ask, I probably haven't seen that one, or that one...or that one, either. Yet. The most important thing to know is that this list is extremely likely to change.